Jovanka Houska
Encyclopedia
Jovanka Houska is an English chess player with the titles International Master (IM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM).
, but was chosen only to complement the family name. Chess is a popular sport in the Houska family, and she owes much of her progress to the sibling rivalry that developed with elder brother Miroslav, himself an International Master of chess, though currently inactive. She now lives on the capital's north side and has a degree
in Law.
One of England's most active professionals, she first represented her country at the World Youth Championship
for Girls (under 10) in Timişoara
1988, finishing fifth after a disastrous start and despite being years younger than most of her opponents. She competed in the same event at Aguadilla in 1989 and then, for a third time at Fond du Lac
in 1990, where she won the bronze medal. There were many more successes over the next few years including another bronze medal at the European Junior Championship
for girls (under 20) at Erevan in 1998. As a consequence, she was awarded the Woman International Master (WIM) title the same year, after securing all three norms in just over a month. Her first WGM norm was achieved at the 1999 British Championship
when she was still a teenager.
in 2000, her previous efforts were eclipsed by a return visit to the European Junior Championship—capturing the gold winner's medal, ahead of Viktorija Čmilytė
. It was a milestone victory, as it also provided a final qualification norm for the WGM title. The following year saw her take the Women's Commonwealth Championship
, held in London in conjunction with the Mind Sports Olympiad. She defeated GM Dibyendu Barua
in the process and gained a first IM norm.
s between 1998 and 2008 and aside from her first appearance as a reserve, has played consistently on high boards, scoring in excess of 50% on each occasion. From 1999 onwards, she has also been an ever-present at the European Team Championship
s. The team's most notable performance in this event, occurred at Leon
in 2001, where a third place finish produced a team bronze medal.
An active league chess player, she represents SK Hofheim in the German Bundesliga
, Deauville in France and Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher 2 in the 4NCL
.
Following yet more successful norm-seeking, she became the third British woman to be awarded the IM title in 2005. Voted English Chess Federation
Player of the Year in 2006, she was the first female to receive the accolade since its inception in 1984. There were 'highest placed Woman' prizes at the Hastings International Chess Congress
2006/7 and at Gibraltar
2007. She also came close to winning the first MonRoi
Women's Grand Prix, finally finishing second equal behind Pia Cramling
. Her task was much more difficult at the fifth Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament
, held at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, where she faced some of the world's top grandmasters and finished in last place.
At Liverpool
in 2008, she became British and English Women's Champion for the first time, finishing a full point ahead of closest rival Susan Lalic
and a half point ahead of grandmasters Glenn Flear
and Stewart Haslinger
. Her second Liverpool visit resulted in a third share of the women's best performance prize (jointly with Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
and Yelena Dembo
) at the EU Individual Open Chess Championship
.
Houska then repeated her British Championship success at the 2009 and 2010 events held in Torquay
and Canterbury
respectively. Her sustained good form elevated her (July 2010) Elo rating to 2433, making her England's second ranked woman player (behind Harriet Hunt
) and number fifty-one in the world among active female players.
In the field of writing, she has reported on tournaments home and abroad for periodicals such as CHESS magazine
. She completed her first chess opening
book in 2007. Written for Everyman Chess, it features a treatise on Houska's opening of choice with the Black pieces—the Caro-Kann Defence
. A second book, covering the Scandinavian Defence, was published in 2009 and there followed a collaboration on 2010's Dangerous Weapons: The Caro-Kann, with fellow English masters John Emms and Richard Palliser.
.
Formative years
Born in south London, her family name stems from her grandfather who was part Czech. Her first name is typically SlavicSlavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
, but was chosen only to complement the family name. Chess is a popular sport in the Houska family, and she owes much of her progress to the sibling rivalry that developed with elder brother Miroslav, himself an International Master of chess, though currently inactive. She now lives on the capital's north side and has a degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in Law.
One of England's most active professionals, she first represented her country at the World Youth Championship
World Youth Chess Championship
The World Youth Chess Championship is a chess competition for girls and boys under the age of 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18.The first predecessor of the youth championship was the Cadet Championship. It started off unofficially in 1974 in France for players under 18. The 1975 and 1976 editions were also...
for Girls (under 10) in Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
1988, finishing fifth after a disastrous start and despite being years younger than most of her opponents. She competed in the same event at Aguadilla in 1989 and then, for a third time at Fond du Lac
Fond du Lac
-United States:*Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin**Fond du Lac, Wisconsin ***Fond du Lac High School***University of Wisconsin–Fond du Lac***Fond du Lac Light, a lighthouse**Fond du Lac , Wisconsin**North Fond du Lac, Wisconsin...
in 1990, where she won the bronze medal. There were many more successes over the next few years including another bronze medal at the European Junior Championship
European Junior Chess Championship
The first chess youth championship in Europe was the yearly European Junior Championship for under age 20. It was played from 1971–2002. FIDE officially introduced the European Junior Championship in 1970 at their Annual Congress and so the 1971/72 edition was the first official European...
for girls (under 20) at Erevan in 1998. As a consequence, she was awarded the Woman International Master (WIM) title the same year, after securing all three norms in just over a month. Her first WGM norm was achieved at the 1999 British Championship
British Chess Championship
The British Chess Championship is organised by the English Chess Federation. There are separate championships for men and women. Since 1923 there have been sections for juniors, and since 1982 there has been an over-sixty championship. The championship venue usually changes every year and has been...
when she was still a teenager.
European success
Then, at AvilesAvilés
Avilés is a city in Asturias, Spain. Avilés is with Oviedo and Gijón, one of the main towns in the Principality of Asturias.The town occupies the flattest land in the municipality, in a land that belonged to the sea, surrounded by small promontories, all of them having an altitude of less than...
in 2000, her previous efforts were eclipsed by a return visit to the European Junior Championship—capturing the gold winner's medal, ahead of Viktorija Čmilytė
Viktorija Cmilyte
Viktorija Čmilytė is a Lithuanian chess player with the titles of Woman Grandmaster and Grandmaster . She won the gold medal at the Women's European Individual Chess Championship in 2011...
. It was a milestone victory, as it also provided a final qualification norm for the WGM title. The following year saw her take the Women's Commonwealth Championship
Commonwealth Chess Championship
The Commonwealth Chess Championship is a gathering of chess players from Commonwealth countries.-History:A championship was planned for New Zealand in 1949, but it was canceled because the British Chess Federation was unable to attend.-Oxford 1950:...
, held in London in conjunction with the Mind Sports Olympiad. She defeated GM Dibyendu Barua
Dibyendu Barua
Dibyendu Barua is a chess Grandmaster from the city of Kolkata in the Indian state of West Bengal. He is the second Indian to become a Grandmaster, after Viswanathan Anand. In 1978, Barua, as a 12-year-old, became the youngest participant in the Indian National Championship of chess...
in the process and gained a first IM norm.
Team events
Despite her time-consuming academic studies, the next few years were notable for Houska's unstinting contribution to the England Women's team at various major competitions around the world. She participated at each of the Chess OlympiadChess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
s between 1998 and 2008 and aside from her first appearance as a reserve, has played consistently on high boards, scoring in excess of 50% on each occasion. From 1999 onwards, she has also been an ever-present at the European Team Championship
European Team Championship
The European Team Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9...
s. The team's most notable performance in this event, occurred at Leon
León, Spain
León is the capital of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, situated in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter of the province's population...
in 2001, where a third place finish produced a team bronze medal.
An active league chess player, she represents SK Hofheim in the German Bundesliga
Chess Bundesliga
The term Chess Bundesliga , normally refers to the premier league of team chess in Germany. It is arguably the strongest and longest running league of its kind, attracting many top grandmasters from Europe and beyond....
, Deauville in France and Wood Green Hilsmark Kingfisher 2 in the 4NCL
4NCL
4NCL is an acronym, standing for Four Nations Chess League; the four nations being England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The league is however truly international, with players from as many as 27 different countries taking part....
.
Further progress
English Chess Federation
The English Chess Federation is the governing chess organisation in England and is affiliated to FIDE. The ECF was formed in 2004 and was effectively a re-constitution of the extant governing body, the British Chess Federation , an organisation founded in 1904...
Player of the Year in 2006, she was the first female to receive the accolade since its inception in 1984. There were 'highest placed Woman' prizes at the Hastings International Chess Congress
Hastings International Chess Congress
The Hastings International Chess Congress is an annual chess congress which takes place in Hastings, England, around the turn of the year. The main event is the Hastings Premier tournament, which was traditionally a 10 to 16 player round-robin tournament. In 2004/05 the tournament was played in the...
2006/7 and at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
2007. She also came close to winning the first MonRoi
MonRoi
MonRoi, Inc. is a Montreal-based company that created a system to allow the recording of chess games in an electronic format. The system also allows for games to be broadcast via MonRoi's in realtime, as the games are being played....
Women's Grand Prix, finally finishing second equal behind Pia Cramling
Pia Cramling
Pia Cramling is a Swedish chess grandmaster. Since the early 1980s, she has been one of the strongest female players in the world....
. Her task was much more difficult at the fifth Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament
Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament
The Howard Staunton Memorial Tournament is an annual chess tournament held in honour of the English chess player Howard Staunton .The first edition was played in 2003 in Simpson's-in-the-Strand, London, England to mark its 175th birthday; subsequent editions have also been held there...
, held at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, where she faced some of the world's top grandmasters and finished in last place.
At Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
in 2008, she became British and English Women's Champion for the first time, finishing a full point ahead of closest rival Susan Lalic
Susan Lalic
Susan Lalic is an English chess player, holding both International Master and Woman Grandmaster titles. She is five-time British Women's Chess Champion - 1986, 1990–1992, 1998....
and a half point ahead of grandmasters Glenn Flear
Glenn Flear
Glenn Curtis Flear is a British chess grandmaster now living in Montpellier, France. He is the author of several books, some on chess openings and some on the endgame....
and Stewart Haslinger
Stewart Haslinger
Stewart Haslinger is an English chess Grandmaster and former British Junior champion.-Biography:Now a resident of nearby Formby, Haslinger comes from a strong chess-playing family...
. Her second Liverpool visit resulted in a third share of the women's best performance prize (jointly with Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant
Ketevan Revazovna Arakhamia-Grant is a Georgian -born Scottish Grandmaster of chess.-Chess career:...
and Yelena Dembo
Yelena Dembo
Yelena Dembo is a Greek International Master of chess. On the May 2010 FIDE rating list for women, she is ranked 31st in the world, with a rating of 2470. She became a Woman Grandmaster when she was seventeen years old, and an International Master at age nineteen...
) at the EU Individual Open Chess Championship
EU Individual Open Chess Championship
The EU Individual Open Championship was first contested in Cork, Ireland in 2005, under the auspices of organising body, the European Chess Union . The event is open to members of chess federations within the European Union...
.
Houska then repeated her British Championship success at the 2009 and 2010 events held in Torquay
Torquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...
and Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
respectively. Her sustained good form elevated her (July 2010) Elo rating to 2433, making her England's second ranked woman player (behind Harriet Hunt
Harriet Hunt
Harriet Vaughan Hunt is an English chess player and four times British Ladies' champion.-Biography:A high profile player from an early age, she won five British Junior Girls titles between 1989 and 1991...
) and number fifty-one in the world among active female players.
In the field of writing, she has reported on tournaments home and abroad for periodicals such as CHESS magazine
CHESS magazine
CHESS magazine , also called CHESS and previously called CHESS Monthly, is a chess magazine published monthly in the UK by Chess and Bridge Limited. CHESS was founded by Baruch Harold Wood in 1935 in Sutton Coldfield. Wood edited it until 1988, when it was taken over by Pergamon Press and changed...
. She completed her first chess opening
Chess opening
A chess opening is the group of initial moves of a chess game. Recognized sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings as initiated by White or defenses, as created in reply by Black. There are many dozens of different openings, and hundreds of named variants. The Oxford Companion to...
book in 2007. Written for Everyman Chess, it features a treatise on Houska's opening of choice with the Black pieces—the Caro-Kann Defence
Caro-Kann Defence
The Caro-Kann Defence is a chess opening —a common defense against the King's Pawn Opening characterised by the moves:The usual continuation isfollowed by 3.Nc3 , 3.Nd2 , 3.exd5 , or 3.e5 . The classical variation has gained much popularity...
. A second book, covering the Scandinavian Defence, was published in 2009 and there followed a collaboration on 2010's Dangerous Weapons: The Caro-Kann, with fellow English masters John Emms and Richard Palliser.
Personal
Houska married Norwegian chess player Arne Hagesaether on 14 March 2009 at the Ice Chapel in Alta, NorwayAlta, Norway
-Birdlife:For those interested in bird watching, the river outlet, known locally as Altaosen is well worth a visit. This tidal area is used as a stopover for many wetland species.-Transportation:...
.
Notable games
At the Dresden Olympiad of 2008, Houska won twice against high ranking opposition;- J. Houska vs A. Stefanova, Slav Defence, 1-0, Women's Olympiad, Dresden 2008
- V. Cmilyte vs J. Houska, Slav Defence, 0-1, Women's Olympiad, Dresden, 2008